JANUARY 16, 2002

Red Bull stays with Sauber

ONE could never accuse Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz of being conventional and his decision to sell his shares in Sauber but remain as a sponsor, while also supporting (and trying to buy) Arrows is best described as an idiosyncratic move. Mateschitz has however agreed a deal to remain on the Sauber this year as the likelihood is that the Swiss team will be rather more competitive than the Arrows-Cosworth combination. In the longer-term however Mateschitz seems intent on doing a bigger deal with Arrows but he may be pausing at this point just to see how things go for a year and whether Formula 1 becomes more popular in the United States - his primary target market at the moment.

The deal with Sauber marks Red Bull's eighth season with Peter Sauber.